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[CanesFan27]

For the folks that like the history of roadmeets etc: I decided to go down a rabbit hole of old items to how the first publicly organized road meet came about.  Or what was known as the Western PA MTR meeting held in Greensburg, PA - February 27, 1999.

October 28, 1998:  Rush Wickes posts in MTR “Proposal: Roadgeek Convention.”  It is well-received with many people interested in the idea and some discussion of more local “chapters”
https://groups.google.com/g/misc.transport.road/c/uTDHdEWVc_s/m/Mbq2Io5zU1cJ

January 27, 1999: I post a thread to MTR entitled, “Proposal: Western PA Roadgeeks Meeting”
It is a mix of Pittsburgh area residents/ex-pats and folks from Ohio discussing where, how, and when.
https://groups.google.com/g/misc.transport.road/c/rB85D9-D6M0/m/GfWZo9xkxQQJ

February 5, 1999: Bruce Cridlebaugh posts “Pa mtr meeting in the works”. The general idea of meeting in Greensburg and the Lincoln highway Heritage Corridor office is established with the idea of three possible upcoming Saturday’s that month.
https://groups.google.com/g/misc.transport.road/c/eAUravPJlzs/m/gJAiHRRsDToJ

February 15, 1999:  Bruce announces the meet, “Western PA mtr meeting announcement” to mtr.  It will be in Greensburg at noon on Saturday, February 27, 1999.  We’ll meet for lunch at the Red Star Brewery at the Greensburg Train Station and then visit the LHHC offices. Original estimates are up to a dozen people.  A follow up announcement is posted on February 22nd

https://groups.google.com/g/misc.transport.road/c/KknQMGHGhs4/m/axjPuYaAbrwJ
https://groups.google.com/g/misc.transport.road/c/LAHtyVIjeWU/m/4XSpyozwRcgJ

February 27, 1999.  We have the meet.  Four people attended - Myself (Adam Prince), Jeff kitsko, Bruce Cridlebaugh, and Chris Cuomo (no not that one.). If you count Bruce’s daughter - we had five in attendance.

I posted a meet round up on March 2nd and immediate discussion began on having our next meet which would ultimately occur in the fall of 1999.

https://groups.google.com/g/misc.transport.road/c/arsHluQKSoM/m/ParZBh5W-SYJ

[Duke87]

Did newsgroups not used to store timestamps? Those threads are all showing every post as made at 3 AM on my end, which would be midnight pacific time (Google default if timestamp missing perhaps).

[74/171FAN]

There was a PA 6066 shield?

[Alps]

There was a PA 6066 shield?

I have never seen evidence of a single shield for a quadrant route.

[CanesFan27]

There was a PA 6066 shield?

Yes there was - Jeff got a photo of it about a year later:
https://web.archive.org/web/20041210052944/http://www.pahighways.com/graphics/gallery/PA6066.jpg

[jpi]

Interesting history on this, at the time I was living in York Pennsylvania, had just met Steph and going through a "depressed" time in my life, it would not be until I started at York Technical Institute in October of 1999 for school that I discovered MTR and that this road meet took place along with you Adam and Jeff Kitsko and your websites and it dawned on me that I was not the only person who had such a BIG interest in all things roads, maps and the history of them.

[hbelkins]

There was a PA 6066 shield?

I have never seen evidence of a single shield for a quadrant route.

I saw a keystone marker for a quadrant route (2047, I think it was) along the US 219 project in the Meyersdale area. It was a temporary construction sign.

[PAHighways]

Although not about the first SWPA meet (although it is cited), Joe Grata, the former transportation reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, did a story about the 2005 meet for his column.

[74/171FAN]

Although not about the first SWPA meet (although it is cited), Joe Grata, the former transportation reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, did a story about the 2005 meet for his column.

Something is not right with the link.

[PAHighways]

Although not about the first SWPA meet (although it is cited), Joe Grata, the former transportation reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, did a story about the 2005 meet for his column.

Something is not right with the link.

Try it now

[74/171FAN]

Although not about the first SWPA meet (although it is cited), Joe Grata, the former transportation reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, did a story about the 2005 meet for his column.

Something is not right with the link.

Try it now

Definitely fixed now.